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Raid in Vrankrijk
scaven - 17.01.2002 17:36
I´ve made an english version of the whole story.
At 3.15 hours in the morning of Thursday the 17th of January, the police of Amsterdam raided the residential part off the legalized squat Vrankrijk, (Spuistraat 216/218). With use of apprehension units, Special Criminal investigators and riot police (about 200 in total), the police searched all 14 apartments. They did not find anything they were looking for, but confiscated a couple of Spanish books, 2 mobile phones and a toy gun collection.
The reason for the raid had to do with the arrest off the Spanish activist from Barcelona, Juan Ramón Rodrěguez Fernández, who was on holyday in Amsterdam.
On request by the Spanish state, the arrest was made, because Juan allegedly had connections with the ETA. He is now held in a Dutch prison, awaiting his extradition to Spain. Lawyers are already working on the case. For weeks, the Spanish Guardia Civil and the Dutch police have been working together on this case.
Juan is the lead vocalist of the band KOP, a political orientated band from Catalonia. Juan is suspected to have ties with the last year rounded up ETA-cell from Barcelona and being an active member of the cities squat movement ´Okupada´.
Juan supposedly gave the ETA information about extreme-rightwing organisations such as Cedade (Neo-Nazi´s).
During the raid, more and more sympathizers came to the place, but could not do much. One girl was injured through a hit on her head by a police baton. She was beaten when she walked out of the door from the squat across the street from the Vrankrijk, without doing anything towards the police. She had to go to the hospital to get some stitches.
From within the bar (separated from the house at the ground floor of the building) bottles were thrown at the police. The police did not do anything about that and left them alone. At the end, the Riot police left, while the criminal investigators left at the backside of the building because they were afraid of being hurt by the flying bottles. They did not have a warrant to pass through the backside of the house, which has a different address.
There are video-images from the raid, a bit unclear but you will get the idea.
Noise  http://www.indymedia.nl/media/1511.ram
Riot police being bombarded http://www.indymedia.nl/media/1512.ram
Street blocked by the police http://www.indymedia.nl/media/1508.ram
Riot police and noise http://www.indymedia.nl/media/1509.ram
Riot police goes away http://www.indymedia.nl/media/1506.ram
More info will follow
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| Lees meer over: europa oranje vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten wonen/kraken | | aanvullingen | | | Vrankrijk is on street behind Royal Palace | 17.01.2002 19:21
2-2-2 Dutch Crown Prince will marry Argentinian Fidela dictator regime minister daughter in that Palace on Dam Square.
(where nobody lives)
| | Amsterdam police raid linked to ETA - and "Eu | Buro Jansen & Janssen - 07.02.2002 11:57
Amsterdam police raid linked to ETA - and "Eurojust"
On 17 January 2001, police in Amsterdam raided a famous ´legalised squat´ and arrested Juan Ramón Rodrěguez Fernández, wanted by the Spanish police in connection with investigations into the separatist Basque group ETA. Special criminal investigators and riot police, numbering up to 200 according to reports, entered the residential area of the Vrankrijk building (which was purchased by squatters in 1991 and also houses a popular cafe) at 3.30 a.m., searching all 14 apartments and allegedly leaving a neighbour needing hospital treatment after she was struck by a police baton. Several Spanish books, two mobile phones and some "replica weapons" (water-pistols) were confiscated by the police. According to a statement issued by the residents the police did not have warrants for all the flats. Those inside were not allowed to call a solicitor, or to leave the apartments, and only a few were told of the reason for the raid.
Fernández is the lead singer of KOP, a politically inspired band from Catalonia, and is accused by the Spanish police of having links to an "ETA-cell" that was rounded-up in Barcelona last year. He is wanted for allegedly passing information on Spanish neo-nazi groups such as Cedade to ETA, although this information is not known to have lead to any offences being committed.
A new era of police cooperation?
The Dutch media has reported that the Spanish Guardia civil told the Dutch police that this suspected ETA-member was setting-up a network in Amsterdam, and that the Vrankrijk building had been under increased surveillance due to a royal wedding with nearby celebrations. After Juan was spotted, Dutch counter-terrorist officers were informed, and following enquiries to Spain, he was arrested to be extradited.
Statewatch has learned that the case was handled by "pro-Eurojust", the provisional EU prosecutions unit set-up in December 2000 (see Statewatch vol 10, no 5 below). It will be formally created and located in the Hague alongside Europol after a recently agreed EU Council Decision is rubber-stamped by justice ministers. Comprised of prosecutors and/or police from each member state, the "provisional" unit handled 170 cases within its first year, although in its current incarnation it is has no legal personality and is technically an EU Council working party with a mandate to facilitate cross-border investigations and prosecutions. Pro-Eurojust´s involvement in the case suggests that there may have been more pre-planning to the raid than has been reported.
Residents and activists claim the "overdrawn and unrighteous" operation was a direct result of the "freaked out war on terrorism" and carried the added benefit of harassing and discrediting the squatters, whose premises have been referred to as a ´no-go area´ for the Amsterdam police.
In support of Juan, the Vrankrijk residents claim that the Spanish police have no evidence against him and say that:
"He is a squatter, singer in a well known band, and activist from Barcelona. As such, some people were acquainted with him, and when he wanted to stay he could, of course. The suggestion… that he would be building a secret network in the Netherlands is utterly absurd… [Vrankrijk is] possibly one of the most watched places by the police in Amsterdam."
Under an EU Framework Decision on a European Arrest Warrant (see Statewatch vol 11, no 5), the text of which has been frozen following "political agreement", the Dutch police would have been under an obligation to arrest Juan and the grounds for refusing his subsequent extradition to Spain severely restricted. This will depend how the member states implement the system into their national law, but the "political offence" exception to current EU extradition procedures will no longer exist. The "eurowarrants" agreement is to be implemented by 2004.
 E-Mail: info@burojansen.nl
 Website: http://www.statewatch.org/news/index.html
| | EU-Presidency: Anti-globalisation Activists a | Buro Jansen & Janssen - 08.02.2002 13:11
EU-Presidency: Anti-globalisation Activists are Terrorists
Jelle van Buuren 08.02.2002
Spain wants network of intelligence liaisons in the Member States to exchange information on political activists
The European Union repeatedly stated over the past few months that activists would not fall under the new anti-terrorist legislation. The distinction between political activists and terrorists would not be blurred. New proposals from Spain, the current EU-Presidency, however show different.
According to Spain, the European Member States have noticed ´a gradual increase at various European Union summits and other events, in violence and criminal damage orchestrated by radical extremist groups, clearly terrorising society´. In the eyes of Spain, these actions from activists against globalisation are without doubt terrorist activities. They are the work of ´a loose network hiding behind various social fronts´, by which Spain mean ´organisations taking advantage of their lawful status to aid and abet the achievements of terrorist groups´ aims´.
According to the Spanish proposal, ´violent urban youthful radicalism is increasingly being used as a cat´s-paw by terrorist groups in order to achieve their criminal aims´. Therefore Spain wants to introduce a standard form for exchanging information on these ´terrorist incidents´. The information must be exchanged between Member States and Europol. Spain wants to use the BDL-network to exchange the information. This network belongs to the ´bureaux des liaisons´, the network of intelligence liaisons in the Member States.
The aim of the information exchange is to ´help prevent such situations arising at summits and other events arranged by various international organisations´, as well as ´the prosecuting of violent urban youthful radicalism´. The European Working Group on Terrorism, in which experts from law enforcement and intelligence agencies responsible for combating terrorism in each Member State participate, studies the proposal of Spain.
After the attacks of the 11th September in the United States, the European Union agreed new legislation on combating terrorism. The Union introduced a common definition on terrorism and a European arrest warrant. Civil liberties groups feared these proposals would criminalize political activism. But the European ministers of Justice stated over and over that the new measures were only directed at terrorists. Political activism, even when in turned into violence during demonstrations, would not fall under the scope of the new measures.
The new Spanish proposal however shows different. Political activism and ´social fronts´ are directly linked to terrorism. Information has to be exchanged through the intelligence canals of the European Union to prosecute political activist. It is also noteworthy that Spain states that the organisations of political activists are ´aiding and abetting´ the achievements of terrorist groups´ aims. ´Aiding and abetting´ is one of the things that have been made punishable under the new common definition on terrorism of the European Union.
Spain has a very specific approach to terrorism. During the 1st European Conference on Terrorism in Madrid in January 2001, the Spanish Minister of Internal Affairs, Jaime Mayor Oreha, stated: ´Terrorism is not only a group of commandos who act, but is a project that tries to root itself in society, and to combat it is also necessary to struggle against the social, economical, political and also communication structures which support and nourish it.´ Spain is acting on this approach. A great many organisations, newspapers and radio stations have been forbidden by decrete in the last four years, without one of these cases ever even reaching a court.
On 17 January 2001, police in Amsterdam raided a famous ´legalised squat´ and arrested Juan Ramón Rodrěguez Fernández, wanted by the Spanish police in connection with investigations into the separatist Basque group ETA. Fernández is the lead singer of KOP, a politically inspired band from Catalonia, and is accused by the Spanish police of having links to an "ETA-cell" that was rounded-up in Barcelona last year. He is wanted for allegedly passing information on Spanish neo-nazi groups such as Cedade to ETA, although this information is not known to have lead to any offences being committed.
Website: http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/11793/1.html
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